William Durbin was born in Minneapolis and lives on Lake Vermillion at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. He and his wife, Barbara, have two grown children. A former teacher, Mr. Durbin has published biographies of Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, as well as several books for young readers, including The Broken Blade, Wintering, Song of Sampo Lake, and Blackwater Ben. The Broken Blade won the Great Lakes Book Award for Children's Books and the Minnesota Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.